“Alright…” Xu Taiping nodded weakly, then swallowed hard and began to slowly guide the rusty sword, weighed down by the heavy iron, towards the cliff ahead.

This time, he had indeed overestimated himself and underestimated the damage that the spiritual oppression could inflict upon him.

He didn’t realize that normal sword cultivators often spent decades gradually increasing the weight.

But it was in his nature to never give up on a decision once made, at least not while he was still conscious.

“Fly a bit higher.”

“Good, a bit higher.”

“Continue…”

At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to the days when he first soaked in the Bone Cleansing Elixir to practice the Danxia Technique, telling himself to endure just a little longer each time the pain nearly made him give up.

Strangely enough, whenever he felt on the verge of fainting, a trace of indescribable pure energy would emerge from the acupoints that had been sealed, briefly clearing his consciousness from the haze.

“Could it be that the Yan Emperor’s Furnace Technique also has the effect of suppressing soul weeping?”

Xu Taiping thought with some surprise.

But before he could ponder further, a buzzing sound filled his mind again, and the dizziness and suffocation assaulted him like a tide.

Yet, because of that trace of pure energy from his acupoints, his consciousness couldn’t slip into unconsciousness, making his perception of the soul weeping pain even more acute.

For a moment, the Yan Emperor’s Furnace Technique became a double-edged sword for Xu Taiping.

…

“Senior Brother, should we call Taiping down?”

Zhao Linglong asked with concern as she watched Xu Taiping’s increasingly violent trembling on the stage.

“It’s too late.”

With a frown, Qingxiao replied with some annoyance:

“This kid is exactly the kind of exception I was worried about. His tolerance for pain far exceeds that of ordinary people. He can’t faint, and if we intervene, we might actually harm him.”

Meanwhile, the disciples in the Cloud Pavilion laughed at his tortoise-like pace.

But as the rusty sword slowly ascended and neared the position on the cliff where the regulated verse was inscribed, most of the mocking voices died away.

Everyone could see Xu Taiping’s pale face, his trembling body, and his half-bent posture, all signaling that he was on the brink of collapse.

Yet, oddly enough, every time people thought he would faint, he would catch his breath and make the flying sword rise a little higher.

He was stubbornly refusing to fall.

It was hard for them to believe that someone could make a flying sword carrying 131 pounds of heavy iron fly to a height of over a hundred yards in such a state unless they saw it with their own eyes.

“Ding!”

Finally, Xu Taiping’s rusty sword touched the cliff.

With a “sizzle,” he began to inscribe upon the cliff, a process that was still extremely difficult.

Xu Taiping had to pause for a moment after each stroke, but to everyone’s surprise, his characters, though slow, were strong and forceful, in stark contrast to the crooked characters of Zhou Ao beside him.

Elder Sansan also noticed this scene, his face showing a rare look of satisfaction.

Not just Elder Sansan, but many of the cultivators present couldn’t help but feel respect for him, seeing that he was not the least bit careless in his writing despite the circumstances.

In an instant, all the mockery and laughter vanished.

Finally, under the astonished and bewildered gazes of the crowd, Xu Taiping, with his trembling arms, controlled the rusty sword to write the last character.

“Junior Brother, he actually did it?!”

Even Zhao Linglong was incredulous at this time.

Qingxiao let out a long sigh, not because Xu Taiping had won the contest, but because he was unharmed during it.

“Come back!”

After writing the last character, Xu Taiping shouted, mustering his strength to call the rusty sword back.

“Whoosh!”

The rusty sword, carrying 131 pounds of heavy iron, fell like a meteor, plunging straight into the ground in front of Xu Taiping.

“Hu…”

In an instant, the spiritual pressure on Xu Taiping dissipated like the tide.

A feeling of indescribable relief flooded his entire body.

“I remember now, the first time I used the Yan Emperor’s Furnace Technique to temper my body, it felt like this.”

Xu Taiping’s mind suddenly cleared.

He then realized how dangerous his reckless behavior had been and was filled with fear: “But if I had harbored any thoughts of retreat just now, if I hadn’t withstood the pain of soul weeping and yet couldn’t faint, my soul would have suffered greatly.”

“Taiping!”

Just as Xu Taiping was about to fall, Zhao Linglong in her red attire, along with Qingxiao and Senior Sister, rushed to his side to support him.

“Senior Sister, Senior Brother, I’ve worried you.”

Xu Taiping said with a hint of apology.

“It’s good that nothing serious happened.”

Qingxiao checked Xu Taiping’s pulse and then breathed a sigh of relief.

Black Dragon Elder glanced at them and then announced loudly:

“Xu Taiping, with 131 pounds of iron suspended, wins over Zhou Ao.”

Upon hearing this, the crowd stirred again.

Zhou Ao, unable to accept the outcome, kicked a flagpole beside him and said resentfully:

“If I had known, I would have added two more pounds… Ugh!”

But as soon as he spoke, he began to vomit violently due to the instability of his spirit and the intense fluctuations in his breath.

The scene suddenly became extremely awkward.

This was exactly what Qingxiao had feared for Xu Taiping, that being afflicted with soul weeping could lead to public vomiting or even incontinence.

…

As for the subsequent contests.

Perhaps inspired by Xu Taiping, or maybe because the disciples of the Sixth Peak were not particularly skilled at sword control, the three contestants from the Seventh Peak who followed were all very spirited and easily defeated their opponents.

Especially Qingxiao.

In the contest with the Senior Sister of the Sixth Peak, he suspended 3,000 pounds of iron, causing the Senior Sister of the Sixth Peak to forfeit the match.

In the other two contests among the peaks.

The Second Peak defeated the Fifth Peak, and the Third Peak defeated the Fourth Peak.

The First Peak, being the champion of the previous competition, did not need to compete in the first round.

So the next round of rankings would take place among the First, Second, Third, and Seventh Peaks.

…

“If nothing unexpected happens, our opponent will be the First Peak.”

After the second round’s roster was announced, Senior Sister Jiang Zhi murmured with a frown.

“Why would our opponent be the First Peak? Aren’t we supposed to draw lots?” Xu Taiping asked, puzzled.

After nearly half an hour of rest, he had fully recovered.

“Because the First Peak was the winner of the last competition, they have the right to choose their opponent in this round. Since we’ve never been on good terms with the First Peak and are considered the weakest among the peaks, they will definitely choose us.”

Jiang Zhi said with a wry smile.

“I’ve been waiting for the First Peak!”

Second Senior Brother Qingxiao was not intimidated; on the contrary, he was excited.

“The second round of the contest is about to begin!”

Just then, the voice of Black Dragon Elder rang out again.

“First Peak, as the champions of the previous competition, you may now come forward and choose your opponent.”

His gaze turned to the First Peak’s position.

Then, Yan Bing, the chief disciple of the First Peak, flashed onto the stage.

“Disciple Yan Bing greets Elder Black Dragon.”

Yan Bing saluted the Black Dragon Elder upon reaching the stage.

Black Dragon Elder nodded, then looked down at the Third Peak and said:

“Choose whichever peak you want as your opponent.”

Yan Bing nodded slightly.

His gaze swept over the crowd below, eventually settling on Qingxiao of the Seventh Peak.

“I choose… the Seventh Peak!”

Yan Bing looked straight at Qingxiao with a smile.

Just as Senior Sister Jiang Zhi had predicted, the First Peak chose the Seventh Peak as their opponent.